Synthesis of (Ti,Cr)xCy carbides in VT6 alloy by direct laser deposition

The possibility of forming carbides of the (Ti,Cr)xCy type in the Ti6Al4V alloy by the method of direct laser deposition of materials (DLD) is shown. A new method for the synthesis of carbides of the (Ti,Cr)xCy type consists in preliminary laser cladding of carbon fibers with chromium, adding them to the VT6 powder mixture, and fusing the resulting DLD composition. Thus, a new Ti6Al4V/CFs/Cr alloy was obtained. The formation of carbides of the CrxCy type was revealed in the coating on carbon fibers (CF/Cr). The appearance of CrxCy carbides in CF/Cr samples is due to the interaction of carbon with chromium as a result of laser processing. The average microhardness of the Ti6Al4V/CFs/Cr alloy was 700 ± 100 HV0.01. At the same time, the hardness of the detected carbides (Ti,Cr)xCy in the Ti6Al4V/CFs/Cr alloy was 1000 ± 40 HV0.01. During the DLD process, the carbon fiber can be completely or partially dissolved. In the composite material Ti6Al4V/CFs/Cr, carbides (Ti,Cr)xCy are formed. It is shown that the hardness of the detected carbides is 2 times higher than the hardness of the composite material. It has been established that the friction coefficient of the VT6 alloy under increased load decreases by 1.5 times after 20 min of testing, while the friction coefficient of the Ti6Al4V/CFs/Cr alloy remains stable and equals 0.27 over the entire test interval.